The third installment of our investigation of places around the world most under threat begins with a common source of controversy. Debate will rage forever on how far we must go as humans to balance conservation with practical concerns in our modern world. To develop or not develop, at great financial opportunity cost, is the major question. Those who believe that money is the root of all evil will certainly not change their minds once they read on.
Once a pristine coastline the envy of the Pacific, the North Shore of Kauai is now under threat because of that very deadly sin. In our endless quest to secure a portion of idyllic landscape, we often neglect long term concerns and look the other way. The North Shore and much of Hawaii for that matter, is a supreme example. What was a natural paradise has become a wasteland of speculative land developers, resorts and harmful tourist activity.
The state government deserves plaudits for recent advances in ecotourism but sadly for the North Shore of Kauai, there can be no reversal to the damage done.
Stay in beautiful Kauai before the North Shore changes forever.
Three Gorges and Upper Yangtze River, China
By far the most controversial human project in history, the Three Gorges Dam hydro-electric power station has become the symbol of New China - good and bad - as the country emerges at warp speed out of the dark shadow of Communist rule under Chairman Mao. Whatever your view of the Dam, there is no debate about one singular fact.
Upon completion in 2011, the landscape of this once pristine part of China will change forever. Therefore, get your fill of Three Gorges and the Upper Yangtze before the behemoth, historic feat of human design, relocates millions, wipes villages, archaeological and cultural sites off the map and threatens to destroy precious biodiversity with record pollution.
A plethora of hotel deals in every major city in China await.
The fact that the Dead Sea is under threat may come as a shock to many. But if political tensions in the Middle East endure as they have for decades and environmental concerns are left behind, the unique sea could be the first major natural casualty. The fact is that Israel, Palestine and Jordan are all to blame for the potential demise of the Dead Sea, which could occur in the next half century.
When you consider the spiritual and environmental role of the sea in the region, the ripple effect of the loss would be monumental. Diversion of water for commercial and population concerns is the chief culprit for the insane recession of the Dead Sea. Whether a plan by Israel and Jordan to build a canal in the Red Sea will help solve the problem remains to be seen.
Overpopulation provides clarity and focus in a way no other development can. Take for example the incredible growth of Mexico City over the last century. With over 22 million hungry and thirsty people in need of decent infrastructure to not just survive but thrive, certain problems inherent in the original construction of the city have come to the fore.
For one, Mexico City was built on a lake. Aztec design, as ahead of the times as it was, did not come with a crystal ball to foresee what the Spanish conquerors would do - drain the lake and erect a Euro-centric style city in the empty hollow that was left. Bad idea. On a foundation of malleable clay, the results over the past five hundred years, with swells in human population and epic urban development, have been grave. The city has sunk 9 m in the past century alone.
In his film An Inconvenient Truth, former United States Vice President Al Gore uses Mount Kilimanjaro to illustrate the ruinous effects of increases in mean global temperature. For one, the iconic snow cap of Kilimanjaro will disappear. Of this there is no debate. The only argument is when it will dissipate for good.
Some scientists predict that by 2040 the snows of Kilimanjaro will be gone. Others less optimistic forecast that the white peak will be invisible by 2020. Whatever the case may be, the proximate villages that rely on the glacier for subsistence will have to find a new source of water.
Check out Part IV of our look at extinction candidates around the world.
Photo credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
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July 5th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
[...] 20 World Disappearing Acts IIITake for example the incredible growth of Mexico City over the last century. With over 22 million hungry and thirsty people in need of decent infrastructure to not just survive but thrive, certain problems inherent in the original … [...]